XFives Are Alive
by KiaraAlexisKlay
Summary: Another naming of the Unit fic that had been sitting here on my computer forever. K for a graphic beating scene. Complete.


_Working Title: X-Fives Are Alive_

_Author: Kristin aka Kiara Alexis Klay_

_Rating: M for Mature due to a graphic attack description._

_Summary: The X Fives decide to make themselves real._

_Disclaimer: Dark Angel and all characters belong to Fox and the wonderful team of James Cameron and Charles Eglee. I am merely borrowing them for my fictional enjoyment.

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**X Fives Are Alive **

"_X-five at your twelve!"_

The soldier's voice hissed over the radio, and Colonel Donald G. Lydecker kept his face impassive as he eyed the Satellite uplink and listened as his soldier "watchers" tried to track the movements of his "kids".

_"No, they're behind you! WATCH-"_

Static greeted the ears of the listeners, and the blips that had been the two recon soldiers stopped moving, switching from red to green as the body sensors registered the soldiers unconscious and/or incapacitated. All over, on the satellite feed, the blips of his soldier teams slowly faded from red to green, as each team was taken down. The last remaining two red blips faded to green not even two minutes after the first break of radio silence.

"Time," Lydecker snapped the command and one of his numerous soldier types whipped into action.

"Fifteen minutes, ten seconds, sir!" the young tech answered crisply, eyes scanning the data streaming across his monitors, tracking variables and numbers like reading the words in a book.

Lydecker gave no indication whether the news pleased him or not. He turned to his lieutenant, faithfully at his CO's side, and nodded.

"Give the signal. Bring them back."

"Yes, sir!"

- - -

X5-599 marched his detail of fourteen, excluding him, of his fellow comrades through the halls of the training facility toward the debriefing room. Not a word was spoken by the detail of grim-faced children, the youngest of which was no more than four years old, yet they all moved without any vocal commands as a unit, completely in accord with each other.

All wore dark combat fatigues, once-gleaming boots now dull from the exercise, and M-16 assault rifles carried exactly four inches in front of them as per military decorum. Their little faces and exposed skin was covered by mud or camo paint, all the better to blend into the surrounding forest, some mud even on top of the mandatory crew cut for male and female alike.

X5-599, marching on the outside of the twin line formation like a Drill Instructor, saw the debriefing room come up, and he held a hand up to signal. As one, the detail came to a precise halt, their stopping creating a sudden vacuum of silence that had been filled with the rhythmic harmony of the children's marching. The detail stood at strict attention, eyes forward, yet somehow they'd been aware of their leader's every move and gesture.

X5-599 motioned to the foremost two in the detail, the tallest next to him, as the line was made in descending height order. They were also the next oldest, but they sprang readily to open the huge double doors of the briefing room, a large squad-bay of a room actually.

_Hatch holders spring out!_ X5-599 thought with inward amusement at the Marine diddy they had learned by watching a video of Marine Corps Bootcamp, male and female versions. He had to admit, he didn't see why the adults portrayed in the video had such a rough time with the training. The three month long training was nothing compared to the exercises and training the X-5's had to go through, and they were more than half the age of the recruits looking to become Marines.

X5-599 gave the "fall-in" signal, and the left column filed into the room, the right column not far behind the first. X5-599 marched through the double hatches last, motioned to the two hatch holders to rejoin the group, which was now in a perfectly straight line in descending height order once again. He took his place at the "head" of the line, and snapped his head and eyes forward only when he made sure his detail and everyone in it were as they should be, slinging his rifle off his shoulder to slap it in front of him.

_"PUH-rade, REST!"_

At the order, fifteen pairs of hands snapped their rifles toward the parade rest position, barely tapping the floor as it came to rest on their right flank, along their trouser seams and slightly forward, feet originally at a forty-five degree angle now shoulder width apart, left hand resting in the crook of their lower back.

Colonel Lydecker and several of his soldiers came in, including the armory techs, and Lydecker came to stand in front of his troops, critically eyeing the line of child warriors, not missing a detail, noting the posture and precision in their movements. A strange emotion fluttered through his stomach, one that hadn't reared its phony sentimentality in many, many years. He almost didn't recognize it, until his eyes landed on the youngest female soldier, no more than four.

Her designation was X5-452, and her eyes were a deep, warm brown that rivaled melted chocolate for depth, if chocolate could have the cold, world-weary look as on the face of this four year old. Her buzz cut hair was darkened, it would probably be as dark as her eyes if left to grow, and her skin was a beautiful olive tone that glowed like an inner candle the more time she spent in the sun. Many of the children before them had quite a mix of the Latino and Mediterranean ethnicities thrown into their genetic goop, and if the eldest female was any indication, they would develop into a good looking batch of soldiers, or at least amazingly exotic.

But X5-452 pulled at something. Perhaps it was because she had been the last female born, or maybe it was just because she was so tiny and yet so grimly determined. He had to fight not to laugh when he saw her struggle with a wieldy M-16 rifle that was as long as she was tall, but there was a look in her face that said she knew how to use it and wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger.

Whatever the cause he found himself proud whenever he watched this clever little soldier take on opponents, usually her older and bigger squad mates, and never give up no matter what. She was fiercely loyal to her fellow soldiers, he'd seen how she had attacked an older X-5 in defense of one of her 'sisters'. She'd managed to bloody his nose, break two ribs, and bruise him up pretty good before the guards caught hold of her, all the while zipping around like some lethally crazed feminine version of Speedy Gonzales, dodging the throws and punches of the older X-5 with a grace that was shocking even for an X-5.

_"That's it, I'm _proud_ of this bunch of genetically engineered soldiers,"_ he thought, and not without some disappointment. He'd been at this job a long time, had worked with previous failed X-series' and he had never gotten attached to any, up until now. He didn't know when he had started to feel towards his soldiers, but it couldn't be any good. Sentiment would kill a soldier quicker than any bullet, knife, or nerve agent, and it was especially bad if you started to look at the genetically engineered soldiers as anything but soldiers, technology, a weapon to be used.

"At ease," he spoke, and he watched the tiny frames relax - slightly. There was a lessening of tension, yes, but there was wariness, an alertness that belied the seemingly casual stance. The posture was still good, but there was a…vibrancy about them that said that they would snap back to attention at a second's notice.

"X5-599!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Hand in your weapon to Armor Spec Hernandez."

"Sir, yes sir!"

X5-599 turned in his weapon to the weapons master, who gave it a quick inspection, nodded to Lydecker, and then passed the rifle to his subordinate weapons tech, who broke it down to give it a more thorough inspection. This was done in record time, rebuilt, and then placed in an empty space on a rack that housed the rifles. All the X-5s rifles had no ammo magazines, and therefore were not loaded, but it was a precaution nonetheless. No need to cut corners, that slacking causes mistakes, and mistakes can be fatal.

One by one, Lydecker called out the designations of the small detail. The smaller ones, of course, had a bit more difficult time with their weapons, many of them not as tall as the rifle they carried, but that was to be expected. Despite their lack of size, they managed to snap in and march precisely to turn in their weapons to the weapons tech with a precision and experience that would have made a leatherneck drill instructor weep for joy.

"X5-452," Lydecker called last, watching as the tiniest soldier came forward with a clear, 'sir yes sir!' She wobbled just slightly, trying not to let the rifle, which weighed as much as she did and had more bulk, tilt.

She was doing her best not to be an embarrassment, and Lydecker could see the faint smiles and smirks on the faces of his adult soldiers as she stepped forward. He knew that some of the guard secretly called her the "Littlest Soldier" or "the brave little soldier", a parody of the classic children's television show The Brave Little Toaster, but he found nothing funny in the situation.

The fact that the men were laughing at one of his kids, laughing at 452, made him mad. He scowled at the nearest soldier who couldn't hide his smile fast enough. He glared at the soldier, then at the little girl…soldier in front of him.

"X5-452, what are you doing?"

"Coming forward as ordered, sir!"

"That rifle is wobbling in a way most unbecoming of a soldier. What do you have

to say about that?"

"Sir, the M-16 assault rifle is taller than this soldier sir! The balance is off sir!"

"That's an invalid excuse, 452. What do you think we should do about that?"

"Give this soldier a smaller weapon or don't complain until I grow a few feet!" the little soldier snapped out, belatedly adding, _"sir!_"

The unexpected response brought some laugh turned coughs from some of the soldiers. While it could be considered sarcastic, there was a sincerity that spoke volumes; she had not intended it to be offensive. Though her eyes were straight ahead, her chin was tilted just oh-so-slightly, and there was a deep wellspring of fire burning there in those chocolate depths.

Lydecker stopped for a moment and his eyes narrowed to slits as he assessed her. There was tenseness in the atmosphere, as if the other X-5s were holding their breaths. None of the other X-5s had ever dared to talk back to him like that; it wasn't what good soldiers did.

452 probably didn't know any better, he had given her an order and she had replied candidly a solution just as he'd requested of her. Out of all of them, 452 was the most one likely to state what was exactly on her mind, she had yet to learn the lesson of tact. He had to admit, that took guts. That warm feeling came over him again. He quickly stamped it away, and none of his thoughts showed on his face or in his eyes. He stayed silent as he weighed his options.

"X5-452, that answer is phrased unacceptably and in a manner not fit of a soldier addressing her commanding officer. Turn your weapon in, _without mistake_, and then stand at attention. You need learn how to correctly address a question posed by your superior."

"Sir, yes sir!"

X5-452 marched her little body over to Hernandez, solemnly and crisply giving her weapon over, returned to her place in line, and assumed the position of attention. Colonel Lydecker waited until she had resumed her place before barking at the others.

"The rest of you, _except_ X5-452, will report to the mess hall, the showers, and

then the barracks. _DISMISSED!_"

Fourteen hands snapped crisp salutes and X5-599 marched his detail minus one toward the promise of food and showers. X5-452 stayed at attention, eyes straight ahead, and somehow she looked smaller and more fragile by herself without the rest of her unit. But Lydecker knew better, that this little girl could kill the majority of the men in this room including himself before they could react, and he thanked whatever deity there was that she and the rest of her 'brothers and sisters' did not yet realize this fact. In time, she and the rest would learn, but for Lydecker's purposes now he needed to reinforce the subconscious fear and awe each of the X-5s held for him.

- - -

Lydecker waited many minutes, until he was sure that even the X-5s superb hearing would not be able to hear anything going on in the room, and then he motioned for Hernandez and his flunky to leave, as well as his guard though they waited directly outside. Lydecker was as alone with X5-452 as he was ever going to get. He didn't say anything for a long while, letting the little one stew, wondering how her statement could be construed in such a wrong manner as it obviously was.

X5-452 knew she was in trouble, but for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why. Colonel Lydecker had asked her his question, and she had responded truthfully as she had been instructed. She didn't know why the adult soldiers found her answer so funny as to make those strange sounds in their throats. Perhaps they were coming down with a new virus? Four-five-two wasn't worried about getting sick, she had been created not to contract many diseases, and her immune system was up and running at full optimal efficiency, _they_ said so on her checkups.

She kept her little body at the position of attention, ignoring the growing ache in her muscles that were demanding she change her position into a more relaxed state. She and the others had been up for the majority of the past week, much of that time without food or water on one of the "survival" training periods, and she was coming to the breaking point. She was, after all, only four years old, and her body was not used to such hard deprivation, despite the fact that she and one other of her group apparently didn't require as much sleep as the rest.

Then she felt the heat of Lydecker's presence coming close by but she kept her eyes straight like a good soldier. So she didn't see the fist that came flying at her from her blind spot. Even four year old genetically engineered soldiers can't take a straight on punch to the jaw by a full grown, military trained man using full force after a week of little food and water, strenuous survival training, topped by the grand finale a timed hunt with the soldiers.

So surprised was she that she couldn't keep her position of attention and found herself spun around and falling to meet the ground. Her body automatically relaxed into the fall to absorb most of the shock and she rolled with the momentum, gaining her feet. She was hurt and the side of her mouth ached with raw pain, as she tasted the metallic twang of her own blood.

Wobbling just slightly, as her head reeled, she resumed the position of attention. Despite Lydecker attacking her, she was obeying his last order, as he had not given her any further instruction. Colonel Lydecker told her to stand at the position of attention, and she was going to do it. She was a good soldier.

- - -

In the mess hall another tiny soldier, a few inches taller and nine months older than X5-452, stiffened up straighter than normal, muffling a gasp. Her skin was olive also, and her buzz cut hair was just as dark as 452's, but her eyes were a deep cerulean ocean, like the rarest sapphires. She was built more slightly than 452, with broader shoulders and her eyes were just slightly up-tilted at the corners. She chomped down on her food a little harder than usual, and only those squad mates closest to her could tell something was wrong.

X5-599 looked sharply over at his little charge, eyes narrowing slightly. X5-210 and X5-452 shared an unusual bond with each other that had went unnoticed by the watchers of Manticore. Whatever one felt, the other usually did, similar to the psychic bond of twins, though 599 knew they were not. They were not even genetically related or sharing a surrogate like two others in his detail had had. If they had been twins, they would have been placed in a different unit as his others' twins had been.

Seeing X5-210 tense up like could mean only one thing: 452 was being physically punished.

- - -

"Do you understand now, what you did wrong, soldier?" Lydecker asked the trembling girl before him. He had to admire her composure, never once did her eyes glare at him in hatred, or anything other than resigned acceptance and just the right amount of fear.

"Sir, yes sir!" the soldier before him spoke as clearly as her little girl voice and swollen jaw would allow. Blood flowed in a tiny trickle on the side of her mouth but she made no move to wipe it away. She had additional cuts and bruises from the blows Colonel Lydecker had rained down upon her, but she merely absorbed the blows and went right back to the position of attention.

"I didn't hear you soldier!" He smacked the other side of her mouth, ignoring the swelling blue, purple, and black of the first blow. His own hand was throbbing from the beating he'd given to X5-452: she was more solidly built than her lean child's body revealed.

"Sir, _YES SIR_!" she managed louder. She resisted the urge to gag at the blood filling her mouth, swallowing her own life's essence, and holding a firm grip on herself mind, body, and spirit both.

_Pain is good; extreme pain is extremely good. Agony is ecstasy; that which does not kill us, will only make us stronger,_ she chanted that mantra to herself.

"Good, because if not, I'd have to punish you to the maximum," Lydecker commented, breathing slightly heavy. He'd put a lot of power and energy into his punches, just to make sure he had his point across. He'd been 'punishing' X5-452 for the greater part of an hour, and it had been as long a week for him as it had been for his kids. He rarely spent any time sleeping, driving himself as hard as he drove his kids, not admitting to himself the reason he did so was probably to keep from facing the demons that haunted his dreams as anything else.

If he was truly honest with himself, he would have admitted the reason he was taking so much force on X5-452 was because he was angry: angry at the world, at God, at life in general. He was taking his own anger out on 452. A small, helpless, willing victim, too good a target to pass up. She would heal, all the kids healed fast, darn it. Faster than his rage abetted.

But he could see he might have come close to the breaking point this time around. He knew his kids hadn't had hardly anything to eat, he'd ordered that himself. 452 being the youngest on active duty, she still needed more sleep and nourishment than the others right now. She hadn't had anything to eat in days, and right now, she probably wouldn't be able to swallow, much less chew or eat after what he did to her jaws.

"Report to the showers and then your bunk immediately," he ordered, and the tiny soldier snapped off a salute despite the pain, and whirled with all the precision of lifelong military training and left the room.

_What have I done?_ Lydecker wondered as he stared at his knuckles bruised with connecting with 452's jaw. That little one had a hard head, that was for sure.

_I'm only making her stronger,_ he consoled himself. _She'll be the perfect soldier by the time I'm done with her. Her, and all the others._

---

X5-452 marched past the posted soldiers outside with her head up, shoulders back, and a secret fire building from within. She was a good soldier, she only gave her best, and yet that wasn't good enough. She didn't understand, and she didn't try to. It was too much for the exhausted four year old. She only wanted to shower and crawl into the bunk assigned her, and curl up beside her sister 210.

She didn't pay any attention to the two guards following her and taking up flanking positions; it wasn't any unnatural occurrence. No X5 went by themselves in this place unless in a detail with a specific purpose. She entered the barracks assigned to her unit, heading for the shower area, stripping out of her boots, cammies, socks, undershirt, and panties to toss them into a little cubicle knowing there would be clean garments when she came out.

The showers turned on the moment she walked in and she didn't waste anytime getting to lather and scrub herself. The huge shower room that accommodated thirty-two X5s seemed even larger and emptier to the lone girl, who felt an emotion she had never felt before: loneliness. She'd always had her brothers and sisters around her, helping her, giggling softly as they helped the four year old wash herself in time before the showers cut off exactly ten minutes after the last one entered.

X5-452 scrubbed herself as hard as she could and could handle, wincing and going a bit more delicately over the bruised parts, which was most of her tiny body. She was so small and short, she could barely reach the soap dispenser. Luckily for her, there was bar soap around so she didn't have to worry about not being able to reach the liquid soap, which was set higher than 452 could reach.

Mud, grease paint, soap and blood flowed down the grooves in the floor to the drain and X5-452 paused in her cleaning to watch all the colors and liquid textures mix and swirl down the drain. She felt a surge of new emotions when she thought of how the blood came to be and the ache settling in her jaws: anger, resentment and rebellion. Who did Colonel Lydecker think he was treating her like that? She did what he asked. She had done everything that he had asked and he had punished her for it! Only bad soldiers got punished, but she was a good soldier, she had followed orders!

X5-452 glared at the blood and mud and grease mingling in the water and hissed as the pounding spray fell on the side of her jaw. There would be no relief, not for her jaw and not for the empty hole in her stomach that cried for food. She was being sent to bunk down without anything to eat after nearly five days of no food, not that she could have at anything other than mashed potatoes and gravy anyway. She figured the others were still at mess hall for some reason, then remembered that the X5s would have had to wait for the other units to finish before getting their own food, so they might be a while.

She forced her mouth to open, ignoring the fresh surge of pain, and rinsed her bloody mouth, spitting out water until it wasn't tinged red with her blood. Then, she opened her mouth again, and drank the hot water, not caring about the temperature since it was the first drink she'd had in a long time. When she wasn't so thirsty, she stepped out of the warm, muggy shower room to the much cooler changing room and toweled off in the cubicle where her stuff was usually placed. Sure enough, there was her night smock and an extra set of fresh, dry cammies and socks and under things for the morning. The only dirty thing was the muddy boots on the bottom of her cubicle, but she was too exhausted and aching to find the energy to clean them, even if it meant more punishment.

She slipped into the smock gingerly and collapsed as her energy and the anger that had fueled it fled her. She let out a pathetic whimper, so soft that the guards out the barracks couldn't hear. And X5-452 did something she was taught soldiers never did: she cried as quietly as she could, and finally gave into the darkness that beckoned her.

---

X5-599 marched his detail toward the barracks, physically sated, but his mind was going faster than an X5 in flight. He hadn't seen X5-452 come into the mess: surely her punishment couldn't have been that severe for such a small infraction? He had seen the rest of his unit come in though. There had been thirty-two originally, but then a few weeks ago, two of their comrades had fallen in a battle with the big X4s.

It had come as a shock to the close-nit group that two of their own could be taken from them so brutally. The remaining thirty were broken down into two details or units of fifteen each in separate barracks at opposite ends of the compound; one unit fell under X5-599's care, the other unit was under X5-599's 'twinned' brother, his double X5-600.

Six Zero Zero's unit, Beta, had doubles of all 599's unit, but they hadn't developed the close bonding that X5-599's unit, Alpha, had. The Beta's worked well as a unit, but they were just that, a unit. There was no sense of camaraderie, only mechanical obedience to procedure. Alpha unit had evolved into family, brothers and sisters, who weren't afraid to be flexible or to defend each other even against their 'twins' with a zeal that was almost frightening in it's intensity. Colonel Lydecker also wasn't as involved in Beta's development as he was in Alpha's.

Five Nine Nine and Alpha Unit made it to their barracks and left the guards at the hatches. X5-205 was one of the first in, as they went in reverse height, the shorter up front ascending to the taller. It was skewed without 452's presence, but that didn't keep the detail from making a perfect march. X5-452 was spotted by X5-210 and X5-205, one of the male X5s who had attached himself to 210. Since the guards weren't particularly paying attention to two of the littlest X5s, Two One Zero and Two Zero Five rushed over to where Four Five Two was curled in the fetal position. She looked terrible.

Both sides of her face were so swollen she could hardly open her mouth, one eye blackened and slightly puffy, there had to be a few broken ribs, a possible dislocated shoulder, and numerous other cuts and bruises from one too many times being smacked to the ground. Four Five Two whimpered so softly, only an X5s enhanced hearing could pick it up.

"Shh…" Two One Zero soothed at sublevel, the primal bond between the group and most especially the deeper bond between Two One Zero and Four Five Two allowing her to convey more emotion and feeling, which is about all that Four Five Two could understand while being unconscious.

Gently, the two small X5s rushed their sister over to her bunk; the guards wouldn't care as she had already been sent there before the others had arrived. Four Five Two would have been expected to be in her rack. Fortunately for Four Five Two, her bunk was right by the shower room towards the aft part of the room, farthest from the hatch and the guards not really paying attention to what was further in the squad bay. She was slipped in between her covers quietly, and there she curled into a ball again.

The other two barely glanced at each other before hurriedly making their way to the side of their own bunks, waiting for the signal to get in bed. One of the guards in charge came in and checked to make sure all were present and accounted for, barely taking the time to glance over at Four Five Two. He'd already known she was there, she hadn't left, he knew.

"Lights out! Hit the racks!" He barked as he stepped out the hatch, the lights blacking out and the hatch shutting with a metallic twang. For a full five minutes, not a sound was heard in the barracks, and when the guards started their patrol farther on, the children leapt into action.

Fourteen silent shadows formed up at the bunk in the farthest corner, surrounding their littlest sister, their baby. X5-599 stepped up carefully, touching the soft fuzz of 452's buzz cut head.

Two Zero Five climbed in beside the tiny body unhesitant, wrapping himself around Four Five Two protectively, having her back. Two One Zero came in on the other side, snuggling the moppet between the two, keeping the chilled X5 warm.

"We must protect her," Two One Zero whispered at the audio level only they could hear. Thirteen other heads nodded in agreement.

"Family comes first," Five Nine Nine intoned solemnly, his eyes dark and brooding, scowling as he thought.

Heated up by the warmth of her brother and sister, X5-452 gradually started to stir. When she woke, she found she was surrounded by a wall of love and support in the faces of her brothers and sisters standing vigil at her bedside. It touched her, and two silent tears grew in her eyes and fell down her cheeks.

"It's all right, we'll protect you," Two One Zero soothed, catching the tears gently and pressing them to her smiling lips. Four Five Two managed to twitch her lips in an attempt at a smile. Her jaw hurt too much to do more than the twitch, but the gathered family knew and took it for what it was. Flashes of white shown in the semi-darkness as precious smiles broke out among the gathered siblings.

"It's going to be okay Four Five Two," the eldest female, X5-656, assured her baby sister.

"Max," Four Five Two whispered back, and the gathered X5s gave each other puzzled glances.

"Max?" Five Nine Nine questioned carefully, wanting to make sure he understood her correctly.

"My name is Max," Four Five Two announced slowly but painfully clear. There were murmurings among the X5s.

"Only _They_ have names, we have designations," X5-701 explained, her soft blue gray eyes glinting silver in the moonlight streaming through the windows.

"And that makes us nothing," X5-210 chimed in, sensing where her sister wanted to go. She could feel her sister's -Max's- relief; 210 would be Max's voice until Max could speak.

"We should name each other, set us apart from all the other Xs," she continued, her smile beaming bright in the darkened squad bay. "Something that belongs to _us_ and us alone!"

"We'd belong to each other, a real family," Two Zero Five broke in sounding excited even though he was whispering. The grim atmosphere around Max's bedside started to clear up as the idea gradually slithered its way through their heads and they approved. All except Five Nine Nine were actively showing any excitement.

"C'mon Five Nine Nine," X5-493 encouraged, now the one most enthusiastic for a name. "A name, all our own. Not even _They_ can take it away."

Five Nine Nine was silent for a long moment, thinking over all the possible consequences, punishments, and extra training that would occur when the Lydecker and all the other authority people found out they, the X5s of Alpha Unit, had named themselves. Such a show of independence could get them in serious trouble, such variation from protocol was severely looked down upon, and dealt with.

Then he decided, he didn't care. A name. That was powerful magic to the thinking of children soldiers who knew nothing of belonging to something greater than the fifteen other soldiers in their unit. Five Nine Nine knew that names were power, he'd observed it many times, between the guards and the nurses and doctors.

"All right. But we'll name each other. Four Five…_Max_ already named herself. Since she's the youngest, that leaves me next, and I'll name X5-656, and then she'll name Two Zero Five, and so on. Understood?"

There was a chorus of enthusiastic whispered affirmatives and more than one face was broken in half by a smile. As one they all gathered to sit on Max's bunk, some tacit signal perhaps, or maybe they had developed a sort of hive mentality that let all their movements choreograph. They all turned expectant faces toward Five Nine Nine.

"I'll name you," Three Five Three broke in. He was tied with Six Five Six as second eldest, and he usually filled in the job of Second in Command (SIC) for Alpha Unit.

"Okay, what do you want to name me?" Five Nine Nine was curious.

"Zack."

"Zack?"

"Yeah, Zack. It's a strong name for a strong leader," Three Five Three quirked his mouth up slightly. Like Zack, he rarely showed emotion, fully into his soldier mode twenty four seven.

"Zack. Sounds good," Zack nodded his head and that was that. He glanced over at Six Five Six.

"X5-656, you're now going to be…"and Zack gave Six Five Six a considering

look, cocking his head to one side. "Tinga."

"Tinga?" Six Five Six -Tinga's- eyes grew wide with delight. It didn't matter if the name was weird or not, it was _her_ name, and she wouldn't give it up if Lydecker held a gun at her temple, Tinga was _hers._

"Tinga," she murmured again, a pleased smile lighting her lips. Her name was repeated almost reverently by the other X5s. Max merely looked up at her big sister Tinga, in too much pain to talk, but her eyes said that she was as awed and reverent as any.

"Max and Tinga," Two One Zero grinned. "And Zack."

"And Seth," Zack added. They all looked at their leader. "Three Five Three is Seth, after the Egyptian death god Set."

"Set killed his brother Osiris and died by the hand of his nephew Horus," Seth pointed out, pleased he'd remembered some of his history classes. "With Osiris eventually becoming king of the underworld, knocking out Set and Anubis."

"True, but he had been a great warrior. We don't have to accept the nasty parts if we don't want to," Zack shrugged, and the children couldn't argue the logic.

"Me next," Two One Zero raised his hand with a dramatic flair. "Make it a good one…_Tinga_." Tinga gave a soft chuckle, a sound that should have belonged on someone with a much older and worldly wise body, a laugh that would have many a male gaze drawn whether in a bar or across the street.

"All right baby brother," she teased, feeling the happiest she'd ever felt in her short existence.

Tinga thought of all the names she'd heard, testing them out in her head to see which one matched her precocious brother. She remembered overhearing a few of the nurses talking, and one of them had said that her brother had a 'zany personality', which meant he was 'crazily funny'. All that was true, as he was what some would call the squad clown, always managing to make Alpha Unit do the forbidden; laugh.

"Zane," she decided, and there was a tell-tale twinkle in Zane's eyes to show he'd been privy to the joke his name came from. Appropriate.

"Zane?" he teased.

"Or you could be Jockster," she smiled back with familial malice.

"Zane's fine," he assured her, grinning like an idiot all the while. He looked over at X5-734, a petite girl with predominantly Asian features. She and Tinga were of the Oriental stock for operations that would go down in that part of the world. She had an earnest face and her true black eyes were always willing to learn.

"Brin," Zane stated without hesitation. "Because it's pretty and so is she," his smirking smile was replaced by a grimace as Three One Five smacked him.

"Brin, I like it," she smiled a bit shyly. Shyness wasn't encouraged here at Manticore, but Brin was only shy when she was allowed to be herself amongst her brothers and sisters.

"I like it too," X5-493 piped up, leaning against Zane and the rack. Brin gave him a rare full-out smile.

"You're just saying that cause you're next."

"Absolutely." Brin giggled.

"Okay….how about Ben? That nice guard the colonel dismissed. He always made sure the other guards didn't make fun of us, and he told the best stories we overheard," Brin suggested, suddenly feeling shy at this recital.

"Ben is perfect," he grinned.

"What about us?" Seven Zero One asked, pointing from her to X5-471, her male shadow. Four Seven One was to Seven Zero One what Zane was to Two Zero Five. They also had been born to their surrogate mothers almost right exactly at the same time. There was still some controversy between the medical staff who exactly was older. Most of the time, Four Seven One was considered the oldest, though considerable conjecture stated that Seven Zero One was the older by mere seconds. Personally, it hadn't mattered to the X5s who had been older of the two.

"You, Seven Zero One will be Syl, and you Four Seven One…"

"Will be Krit!" Syl interjected, grinning at her two siblings. Ben gave a good-natured scowl at his bubbly sister's interruption of his naming.

"Hey, you already named me, I get a chance to name someone!" she grinned as he protested. She looked very smug about it too.

"I want to be next," Two Zero Five stated and Max couldn't help but smile as she squeezed her sister's hand.

"Jondy. It's different enough but still feminine," Zane nodded decisively and she blushed.

"But you already named Brin!" Seth protested, scowling down at his brother, who just rolled his eyes.

"Come on, it's okay," Jondy rolled her eyes. "Someone else can take my naming."

In the end, Alpha Unit now consisted of Zack, Eva, Seth, Tinga, Brin, Max, Jondy, Zane, Ben, Krit, Syl, Jace, Jack, Kavi, and Vada. That night, the kids went to sleep content that they, the X5's were alive and real.

-Finis-

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**_A/n: I really hope you all enjoyed this. This is one of my older fics I finally finished and no, I'm not going to sequel or series it out. Lord and Jareth and the Blue Lady knows that I have too many series as it is:) Please tell me what you think._**


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